MasterChef pulled off air after Gregg Wallace allegations
Two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials have been pulled from the BBC’s schedule after Gregg Wallace stepped away from hosting the cooking show amid allegations about his behaviour. It comes after the corporation announced on Monday that all MasterChef episodes filmed would be aired as planned, including the festive edition.
A BBC spokesperson has said: “As we have said, MasterChef is an amazing competition which is life-changing for the chefs taking part and the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals is continuing as planned. The celebrity Christmas specials are obviously a different type of show and in the current circumstances we have decided not to broadcast them.”
Three episodes of BBC Two’s Inside The Factory, which are repeats, are also coming out of the schedule, the BBC said.
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Gregg stepped away from the show last week after a BBC News investigation revealed allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour against him. Gregg's lawyers have denied he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
The former MasterChef host apologised on Monday for claiming complaints about his behaviour came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”, adding he will now “take some time out”. He faces allegations from 13 people across a range of shows over a 17-year period, as reported by BBC News on Thursday, with many others since sharing their experiences.
In a video posted on his Instagram story on Monday, he said: "I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday, and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people. I wasn't in a good head space when I posted it. I've been under a huge amount of stress, a lot of emotion, I felt very alone, under siege, yesterday, when I posted it."
The Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off, which was hosted by Gregg and co-host John Torrode, who he has since unfollowed on social media, was to see celebrities competing for the glittery Golden Whisk Trophy. Celebrities competing for the all important trophy included Emmerdale actor Amy Walsh, comedian Shazia Mirza, reality star Luca Bish, and The Wanted singer Max George, who all appeared on Celebrity MasterChef last year.
The second festive special, called MasterChef Meets Strictly Festive Extravaganza, was due to feature Strictly Come Dancing’s Amy Dowden, Gorka Marquez, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu, with Motsi Mabuse setting a challenge.
Since it was announced Gregg would be stepping down from his role amid the external review by Banijay UK, the current series of MasterChef: The Professionals has continued to air on the BBC on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights.
